Gender pay gap exposed

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New figures show worrying gender pay gap

Women working for the government are paid less than men, new figures show. There is a gap of up to 16.9% between them and their male colleagues.

The lowest disparity is 3% – in the culture, media and sport department. The Department for Transport is the worst offender, followed by David Davis’s Brexit department.

Sir Jeremy Heyward, UK’s top civil servant – who earns at least £195,000 – said the data was a “matter for concern”. However, he hailed a fall in the overall pay gap from 13.6% to 12.7%. Additionally, he said he was committed to closing the gap.

The pay gap does not necessarily mean women are paid less than men for doing the same job. The transport and Brexit departments suggest the figures are a result of more women in lower-paid roles. The report revealed that more men are in the highest paid roles.

Sam Smethers, of women’s rights campaign group the Fawcett Society, said: ‘Women are over-represented in lower-paid civil service jobs while under-represented at the top.

‘What matters now is each department’s plan to close the gap. They have to commit to real progress over the coming years and that means making some radical changes.’

The 16.9 per cent gulf between average pay for women and for men at the DfT compares with 15.3 per cent at the Department for Exiting the EU and 14.2 per cent at the Department of Health.

Across the civil service, men earn 12.7 per cent more — a bigger gap than the 10.7 per cent at the BBC but lower than the UK average of 14.1 per cent.

The DfT said its figures were affected by the high proportion of women in lower-paid roles at the DVLA in Swansea.

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